Tag: “nigel baker” “uk ambassador blog”

5th May 2015

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Remembrance

It is rather poignant that the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day – 8 May 1945, the day that World War II in Europe officially ended – falls the day after the British General Election. It reminds us of the fundamental reason why Britain went to war in 1939, reluctantly but determinedly; to […]

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13th March 2015

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Two years of Pope Francis

With some surprise, I have just woken up to the fact that we are celebrating two years since the election of Pope Francis, the first Pope from the New World. It is a cliché, but it really does seem just the other day that I – along with everyone else – was waiting for the […]

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26th February 2015

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Spiritual retreats and daily business

This week, the Pope and the senior members of the Roman Curia are away on spiritual retreat. There are not many governments that take all their senior members away from the fray of the day-to-day for a whole week of reflection, and even here the Blackberries and smart-phones may not be entirely switched off. But […]

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15th December 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Britain’s global horizons: international partners and penguins

The UK’s fourteen Overseas Territories add a particular dimension to British foreign policy and our world view. I often write in these pages about the global Holy See network. The United Kingdom has long had, and still retains, a global role, of which our fourteen Overseas Territories are both one result and an ongoing manifestation. […]

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4th December 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Britain and the Holy See stand together in defence of justice

In his homily at our celebration at St Paul’s outside the Walls of the centenary of the restoration of official UK-Holy See diplomatic relations in 1914, The Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, praised how the United Kingdom and the Holy See “have worked together for justice and peace” over many years. He also set […]

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20th November 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

With Caritas supporting child migrants

I was delighted this week to be able to have taken part in a podcast interview at Vatican Radio, organised by Caritas Internationalis, on child migrants. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an important international Convention that the United Kingdom signed in 1990 and […]

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5th November 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Taking risks for the Church

Pope Francis often talks of the need for priests to take risks, to get out into the streets, to live the message of the Gospel. This week I met a group of people who are living witnesses to just such an approach – descendants, relatives and friends of Msgr Hugh O’Flaherty, Major Sam Derry, and […]

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13th August 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Death to the Death Penalty?

The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See On 13 August 1964, Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans made British judicial history, although not in a way they would have appreciated. They were the last people executed in the United Kingdom. Throughout the […]

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17th July 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Pope Francis at work

The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See In July in Rome, thoughts start to turn to holidays, and escaping the humidity of the Eternal City for the beach or the mountains. Most people think that they have deserved their break, and […]

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4th June 2014

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by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Time to Act: mobilising Catholic networks against sexual violence in conflict

I often have to remind people that I am accredited not to the Vatican City State, but to the Holy See, the governance of the global Catholic Church. As such, this embassy has reach into an extraordinary worldwide network of civil society organisations, religious congregations, diplomats, universities and other components that make up the Catholic […]

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